Sunday evening, following his team's loss to the Angels (LAA 3, BOS 2), Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski announced he is calling up top prospect Rafael Devers. The 20-year-old Devers was hitting .311/.377/.578 with 20 home runs in 86 minor league games before the promotion. The Red Sox hope he will solve their season-long problem at third base.
Dombrowski acknowledged the decision to call Devers up was made because he's not enamored with any of the third basemen available prior to the July 31 trade deadline. The Red Sox lost out on Todd Frazier, easily the most available third baseman, to the rival Yankees, though even Frazier is a flawed player. Rather than force a trade, the BoSox are going with their top prospect.
The trade deadline is a week away now and, inevitably, not every contender will be able to address their biggest need. There is always more demand than supply. So, in the wake of Devers promotion, here are five other top prospects who could get the call in the second half should their clubs decline to pay a big price for help at the trade deadline. The players are listed alphabetically.
The Yankees have called up quite a few of their best prospects within the last few weeks, most notably outfielder Clint Frazier, though they still have several more in the minors. Chance Adams, who successfuly made the transition from college reliever to pro starter last year, has been one of the most statistically dominant pitchers in the minors the last two seasons, during which he has a 2.15 ERA and 0.95 WHIP in 230 2/3 total innings.
Baseball America ranked the 22-year-old Adams as the 56th best prospect in baseball in their midseason top 100 prospects list. Here is a snippet of MLB.com's scouting report:
Adams' fastball was at 92-94 mph at Dallas Baptist and 94-96 in his pro debut, and last year he averaged 94 mph in Advanced Class A and 95 following a mid-June promotion to Double-A ... His slider has gotten harder and sharper in pro ball, arriving in the mid-80s and giving him a second well above-average pitch at times ... Adams' fading changeup has also blossomed as he has used it more, and his curveball ranks as his worst pitch yet still grades as average.
The Yankees were in the market for a starting pitcher even before losing Michael Pineda to Tommy John surgery last week. They've started up-and-down depth arms Bryan Mitchell, Luis Cessa, and Caleb Smith in three of their last seven games, during which they combined to allow nine runs and 22 baserunners in 12 1/3 innings. That's not going to cut it. If New York fails to land a starter before the trade deadline, they figure to give Adams a chance to solve their fifth starter woes.
It's amazing how the Dodgers always seem to right prospect at the right time, isn't it? Walker Buehler, their first round pick in 2015, had Tommy John surgery shortly after the draft. He returned last year and looked electric in limited time. This year he's shown the same overwhelming stuff while being held to strict pitch limits. Buehler had made 17 minor league starts this season and only twice has he thrown as many as 75 pitches. Los Angeles is being very careful with him.
In their midseason top 100 prospect list, Baseball America ranked the 22-year-old Buehler as the 17th best prospect in baseball, so while his overall numbers might not jump out at you, scouts are in love with the kid. Here is part of MLB.com's scouting report:
Buehler usually operated with a 90-96 mph fastball in college, and he opened eyes by throwing in the mid-90s during his brief pro debut and hitting 99 during instructional league ... He can miss bats with both his curveball and slider (and morph the latter pitch into a harder cutter), and his changeup shows flashes of becoming an above-average offering ... If he stays healthy he should become a mid-rotation starter, and he could be more than that if his increased velocity is for real.
The Ddogers were reportedly kicking the tires on rotation help before Clayton Kershaw left Sunday's start with a back injury, so chances are they'll intensify those efforts going forward. Given his workload limits, it's unlikely the Dodgers would consider Buehler as a starting pitcher option this year. They'd look at him as a reliever, where he could really air it out for an inning or two at the time, and make the best team in baseball even more formidable.
As good as the Rays have been this season, they have had something of a revolving door at the back of their rotation. Blake Snell struggled so much he had to be sent down earlier this year, and Erasmo Ramirez didn't do anything to distinguish himself in eight starts. Jacob Faria has been a revelation so far, but with Matt Andriese sidelined long-term by a hip injury, Tampa still needs another arm.
Enter Honeywell, a 22-year-old screwball specialist and the MVP of the Futures Game earlier this month. Baseball America ranked him baseball's 14th best prospect in their midseason top 100 list and he seems destined to be the next great young Rays starter. Here's what MLB.com's scouting report says about Honeywell:
He throws his fastball in the low- to mid-90s with late sinking action and backs it with a host of secondary offerings, including his trademark screwball as well as a plus changeup. His feel for commanding his above-average cutter down in the zone gives him yet another out pitch, while his curveball represents a quality change-of-pace offering ... He's also a fearless competitor on the mound and draws raves for his ability to mix pitches, set up hitters and execute a game plan.
The Rays are never going to be a team that trades top prospects for established big leaguers, so a deal for Sonny Gray or Yu Darvish is out of the question. Even a rental like Jaime Garcia or Trevor Cahill may not be their cup of tea. Tampa Bay has a clear opening for another starter and they're not shy at all about throwing young pitchers right into the fire. Honeywell figures to make his MLB debut in the second half and could be the team's big midseason addition.
Last summer Indians catcher prospect Francisco Mejia, 21, set the modern minor league record with a 50-game hitting streak. He is the top catching prospect in baseball and Cleveland hasn't received much production from behind the plate at all this year. Big leaguers Yan Gomes and Roberto Perez have combined to hit .207/.298/.327 overall in 2017, which is well-below-average even by catcher standards. It's an obvious spot to upgrade.
Baseball America ranked Mejia as the 18th best prospect in baseball in their midseason top 100 list earlier this month. MLB.com's scouting report raves about the switch-hitting backstop:
Mejia generates consistently hard contact to all fields thanks to his advanced bat-to-ball skills and outstanding barrel control. His physical strength and bat speed generates sneaky raw power, especially from the left side, and he's tapped into it more regularly as he's climbed the ladder. Mejia's well above-average arm strength is his best tool ... His receiving skills and game calling also have progressed, and with improved blocking and footwork, scouts believe he'll be an average defender behind the plate ... Mejia shows the makings of becoming an All-Star-caliber backstop.
Among the five players in this post, I think Mejia is least likely to get called up in the second half. For two reasons. One, the kid is still in Double-A, and jumping over Triple-A entirely is not easy. It has been done before, plenty of times, but it's not easy. And two, breaking in a new young catcher at midseason is something teams, especially contenders, try to avoid. Mejia has to learn the pitching staff and all that, and doing it on the fly during a pennant race can be overwhelming. It would be awfully fun to see him in MLB down the stretch, though I think the chances of it happening are tiny.
If Brandon Woodruff's name sounds familiar, it's because the Brewers have already called him up once this season. They brought him up in June to make a spot start during a doubleheader, but he hurt his hamstring warming up and had to placed on the disabled list. Brutal. That's definitely not how Woodruff expected his MLB debut to play out.
Woodruff, 24, is healthy now and back in action in Triple-A. And don't be fooled by the 4.30 ERA. He has spent just about the entire season pitching in Colorado Springs, an extreme hitter's environment, which is skewing his numbers. Baseball America ranked Woodruff as baseball's 43rd best prospect in their midseason top 100. Here's what MLB.com's scouting report has to say about him:
Woodruff's fastball operates at 93-95 mph with late sinking action that helps him miss barrels and consistently generate ground-ball outs. His slider is the better of his two secondary pitches, receiving above-average grades from scouts, though his changeup has the chance to be at least a Major League-average offering ... (He) has the requisite command of three average-or-better pitches, not to mention strong ground-ball tendencies, to develop into a No. 3 or 4 starter.
Although he doesn't fit the "future ace" profile, Woodruff is a very polished pitcher with a chance to step into the big league rotation and produce right away. His adjustment period figures to be shorter than most young starters. The Brewers have been connected to several pitchers in advance of the trade deadline, including Gray and Justin Verlander, and if they're unable to land any rotation help from outside the organization, Woodruff is their best option from inside the organization.
